“Layering is helpful because it allows you to think about your system in a methodical way,” Campbell-Kelly says. Layered, Scalable Architecture, or LSA, describes an SAP method to structuring data in your BI system. Each layer tackles a different task (e.g., converting values into valid types, delivering delta records, aggregating data).

It sounds simple, doesn’t it? But Campbell-Kelly quickly points out that confusion abounds over LSA, and his BIExpert article aims to break the fog and explain its already-well-known concepts.

For example, in a sales reporting system, sales and delivery extractors are common features. Both of those features are part of the source system layer within the LSA. Campbell-Kelly walks you through the nine LSA layers, and for the cherry on top, he also discusses HANA’s impact on the LSA.